§ MR. QUILTER (Suffolk, Sudbury)I beg to ask the Secretary for Scotland whether the Report of the Committee appointed by the Home Secretary to inquire into the administration of Prisons in England has been issued; whether he intends making any change in the manufacture of mats in the Scotch Prisons; whether he will state the value of the total annual sales of mats made in such prisons; and whether he is aware that mats manufactured in Perth Prison are being sold to the public at a price with which it is quite impossible for any English Free Labour to compete?
§ THE SECRETARY FOR SCOTLAND (Sir G. O. TREVELYAN)The total value of mats sold in Scottish Prisons in the year ending December 31st, 1894, was £2,237. The mats made in Perth General Prison are sold at the same price as the mats made in other prisons in Scotland. The prices were approximated in January, 1894, to the prices at which similar mats were offered by English outside manufacturers. The Committee appointed by my right hon. Friend the Home Secretary on the administration of Prisons in England is still sitting; and I am not prepared at present to make any change in the manufacture of mats in Scottish prisons.